What is No I Didn't Drop It In Dirt, Grow Up?

It is a catchphrase and TikTok Duet trend built around a 2020 Chef Cuso video of a seared ribeye, where he snaps "no, I didn't drop it in dirt, grow up" at imagined critics of the dark crust.

Where did No I Didn't Drop It In Dirt, Grow Up come from?

TikToker Chef Cuso posted the source video on May 29th, 2020, searing a tomahawk ribeye coated in black rub, and the line comes directly from that clip.

What does No I Didn't Drop It In Dirt, Grow Up mean?

In the duets it is a mock-scolding reply to a dumb question, and the cut to an aged-up photo of the questioner plays the "grow up" literally; as a standalone caption it signals the same "stop being clueless" energy.

How do you use No I Didn't Drop It In Dirt, Grow Up?

On TikTok, people duet Cuso's video, ask "ew did you drop that in dirt?" and cut to an aged photo of themselves after his reply. Off TikTok, it is used as top text over a young-versus-old or small-versus-big image pair.

Is No I Didn't Drop It In Dirt, Grow Up still popular?

The duet format stayed active into mid-2021, with new variants from creators like @ollieball12 and @regnisxela, and the phrase was being used as a standalone caption on Twitter and Instagram that spring.

No I Didn't Drop It In Dirt, Grow Up

2020catchphraseclassic

Published October 17, 2026

On May 29th, 2020, TikToker Chef Cuso posted a backyard clip searing a tomahawk ribeye and defensively told viewers, "no, I didn't drop it in dirt, grow up," about the meat's dark crust. The line sparked a long-running TikTok Duet trend in which users played dumb critics and then cut to an aged-up photo of themselves, and by spring 2021 the phrase was being quoted on Twitter and Instagram as an IYKYK caption.

catchphrase memes participatory video memes tiktok memes food memes dismissal memes

Overview

The joke works as a two-beat TikTok Duet. On the left half, a user squints at Chef Cuso's dark-crusted steak and asks, "ew did you drop that in dirt?" On the right, Cuso snaps back with "no, I didn't drop it in dirt, grow up," and the duet cuts to a face-aged photo of the questioner, as if the scolding literally made them old2 3. A second beat usually follows, with the user asking "is that burnt?" and Cuso answering "no it's not burnt, black rub, remember from the beginning, grow up," and another cut to the aged photo4.

TikTok

By early 2021 the line had drifted outside TikTok and was being used as a standalone caption on Twitter and Instagram, often paired with a baby-versus-adult or small-versus-large image pair so the "grow up" punchline landed visually5 6. In that form it reads as an IYKYK joke, and posters rarely explain the Chef Cuso source4.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

TikTok (origin) / Twitter, Instagram (catchphrase spread)

Creator

Chef Cuso

Date

2020

Chef Cuso, a TikToker who mostly posts backyard grill cooks, uploaded the source video on May 29th, 2020, searing a tomahawk ribeye coated in a dark seasoning he calls black rub1. Partway through, he addresses the camera as if heading off critics and says, "no, I didn't drop it in dirt, grow up," then later adds the "black rub, remember from the beginning" line about the finished crust1. The clip pulled in more than 4.8 million views over the following year4.

The duet trend started soon after. TikToker @sanchovies and @brokeboygeorge posted among the earliest widely shared duets using the aged-up photo gag, mock-insulting the steak so Cuso could deliver the retort2 3.

TikTok

How It Spread

Duet videos kept appearing well past the original May 2020 upload. In May 2021, TikToker @ollieball12 posted a fresh take that drew significant views7, and in June 2021 @regnisxela followed with another iteration using the same aged-photo structure8. The format outlasted most mid-2020 TikTok trends because the two-line script left room for new reactor photos and face edits.

Around March and April 2021, the phrase started showing up as a standalone catchphrase. On March 29th, 2021, Twitter user @who_is_sumi posted the line with two side-by-side images of the Kitten in a Towel meme next to a grown cat, and the tweet picked up over 34,000 likes and 4,100 retweets within two months5. On April 14th, 2021, Instagram user @c_o_c_o_n_u_t_s_ posted an image macro with the phrase as top text over a sad clip from the Angry Birds movie, hitting more than 46,000 views and 9,000 likes in a similar window6. Three days later, @sora.gif.v2 posted a comparable macro using footage from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time9.

Know Your Meme tracked the trend as still active more than a year after Cuso's original upload, noting its similarity to the That Looks Like The Battlepass duet format4.

Timeline

2020-05-29

Chef Cuso posts the original tomahawk ribeye video with the "no, I didn't drop it in dirt, grow up" line on TikTok.

2020-07

Early viral duets by TikTokers @sanchovies and @brokeboygeorge set the aged-up-photo format.

2021-03-29

Twitter user @who_is_sumi uses the phrase as a caption with a Kitten in a Towel image pair, racking up over 34,000 likes.

2021-04-14

Instagram user @c_o_c_o_n_u_t_s_ posts an Angry Birds image macro with the phrase, the earliest known IG version.

2021-04-17

Instagram user @sora.gif.v2 posts an Ocarina of Time version of the macro.

2021-05

TikToker @ollieball12 revives the duet format with a new aged-photo variation.

2021-06

TikToker @regnisxela posts another variation, showing the trend was still active over a year after the original.

How to Use This Meme

To make one, duet Chef Cuso's original ribeye clip in TikTok, film yourself asking "ew did you drop that in dirt?" on your side, then cut to an edited photo of yourself as an elderly version after Cuso answers. Common convention is to repeat the beat with the "is that burnt?" line and show the aged photo again. Outside TikTok, the phrase typically runs as top text over an image pair showing something small or young next to something bigger or older, with no further explanation.